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Drawing of the church of Muskego -- Kirken i Muskego
Peder Jacobsen (Wærstadkåsa),
Wintertime -- Kirken vinterstid.
Summertime-Muskego Church/Kirke-sommertid
Interior of the church - seen from the altar Interiøret i kirken - sett fra alterområdet.
              Old Muskego Church on the campus of
                                   Luther Seminary in St. Paul.

The Church of Muskego     Many of the first immigrants settled in the Milwaukee area. Agents tried to attract newcomers to Muskego by producing exaggerated or misleading reports. There were many who were misled by talk of good land to build and farm on, only to find the place was actually a marshland. There were many who went there, some of whom settled. Among them were Peder and Johannes Jacobsen from Wærstadkåsa in Helgen. When the congregation decided to build a church in Muskego these brothers were involved in the task. Peder was a trained wheelwright and was responsible for the turning of the pillars in the new building. He is named also as inspector of the project and later was the first sexton of the church.  At the dedication of the church we hear that Jacobsen Church in Winterwalked with great dignity to the lectern to read the opening prayer while the priest knelt before the altar. In Chronicle of old Muskego mention is made of Søren Bakke as `that pedantic chairman' (probably the chairman of the Parochial Church Council) and in A Chroniclerof Immigrant life (Svein Nilsson in Billedmagasin 1868-70): `As one of the most prominent men in Norway Township must be named the postmaster Peder Jacobsen'. These sons of a crofter from Helgen (two more brothers Nils Inside the church.and Tollef lived in Port Washington) came to be solid citizens of their new country. In 1866 the congregation built a new church and the old building was sold to a neighbouring farmer for use as an outhouse. The authorMuskego Church of De norske settlementers historie (A history of the Norwegian settlements), Hjalmar R Holand tells: `When the author in 1897 visited Muskego he was singularly unimpressedSummertime ! that the venerable old church was in use as a pigsty'. He made this matter known to others, the result of which was that in 1904 the old church was purchased, taken apart and re-assembled in what is now the Luther Seminary in St.Paul. One of the workers on this project was one of Johannes Jacobsen's grandchildren. In the church today hangs a picture of sexton Peder Jacobsen.